the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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THE MESSAGE
Job 12:7
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- InternationalParallel Translations
But ask the animals, and they will instruct you;ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.
"But ask the animals, now, and they shall teach you; The birds of the sky, and they shall tell you.
But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:
"But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;
"But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or ask the birds of the air, and they will tell you.
"But now, ask the animals and they will teach you, or the birds of the sky and they will tell you.
"Now ask the animals, and let them teach you [that God does not deal with His creatures according to their character]; And ask the birds of the air, and let them tell you;
"But just ask the animals, and have them teach you; And the birds of the sky, and have them tell you.
"But ask the animals, now, and they shall teach you; The birds of the sky, and they shall tell you.
Aske now the beasts, and they shall teach thee, and the foules of the heauen, and they shall tell thee:
"But now ask the beasts, and let them instruct you;And the birds of the sky, and let them tell you.
But ask the animals, and they will instruct you; ask the birds of the air, and they will tell you.
If you want to learn, then go and ask the wild animals and the birds,
"But ask the animals — they will teach you — and the birds in the air — they will tell you;
But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowl of the heavens, and they shall tell thee;
"But ask the animals, and they will teach you. Or ask the birds of the air, and they will tell you.
But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach you; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell you;
Even birds and animals have much they could teach you;
"But ask the animals, and they will teach you, and the birds of the heaven, and they will tell you;
But now please ask the animals, and they will teach you; and the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;
Axe the catell, & they shal enfourme the: the foules of the ayre, and they shall tell ye:
But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; And the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell thee:
But put now a question to the beasts, and get teaching from them; or to the birds of the heaven, and they will make it clear to you;
But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee;
But aske now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the foules of the aire, and they shall tell thee.
Aske the cattaile, and they shall enfourme thee: the foules of the ayre, and they shall tell thee.
But ask now the beasts, if they may speak to thee; and the birds of the air, if they may declare to thee.
But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:
No wondur, ax thou beestis, and tho schulen teche thee; and axe thou volatilis of the eir, and tho schulen schewe to thee.
But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach you; And the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell you:
But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:
"But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; And the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
"Just ask the animals, and they will teach you. Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.
"But ask the wild animals, and they will teach you. Ask the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you.
"But ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
But, in very deed, ask, I pray thee, the beasts, and they will teach thee, and the bird of the heavens, and it will tell thee;
But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee: and the birds of the air, and they shall tell thee.
"But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
And yet, ask, I pray thee, [One of] the beasts, and it doth shew thee, And a fowl of the heavens, And it doth declare to thee.
"But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you; And the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
But ask: Job 21:29, Job 21:30, Proverbs 6:6, Isaiah 1:3, Jeremiah 8:7
Reciprocal: Job 8:10 - Shall not Job 18:3 - Wherefore Proverbs 30:24 - little
Cross-References
Noah built an altar to God . He selected clean animals and birds from every species and offered them as burnt offerings on the altar. God smelled the sweet fragrance and thought to himself, "I'll never again curse the ground because of people. I know they have this bent toward evil from an early age, but I'll never again kill off everything living as I've just done.
He moved on from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent between Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. He built an altar there and prayed to God .
Abram kept moving, steadily making his way south, to the Negev.
Abram moved his tent. He went and settled by the Oaks of Mamre in Hebron. There he built an altar to God .
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God showed up and said to him, "I am The Strong God, live entirely before me, live to the hilt! I'll make a covenant between us and I'll give you a huge family."
Overwhelmed, Abram fell flat on his face. Then God said to him, "This is my covenant with you: You'll be the father of many nations. Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham, meaning that ‘I'm making you the father of many nations.' I'll make you a father of fathers—I'll make nations from you, kings will issue from you. I'm establishing my covenant between me and you, a covenant that includes your descendants, a covenant that goes on and on and on, a covenant that commits me to be your God and the God of your descendants. And I'm giving you and your descendants this land where you're now just camping, this whole country of Canaan, to own forever. And I'll be their God."
God appeared to Abraham at the Oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent. It was the hottest part of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing. He ran from his tent to greet them and bowed before them.
They arrived at the place to which God had directed him. Abraham built an altar. He laid out the wood. Then he tied up Isaac and laid him on the wood. Abraham reached out and took the knife to kill his son.
Isaac built an altar there and prayed, calling on God by name. He pitched his tent and his servants started digging another well.
Then God was right before him, saying, "I am God , the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. I'm giving the ground on which you are sleeping to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will be as the dust of the Earth; they'll stretch from west to east and from north to south. All the families of the Earth will bless themselves in you and your descendants. Yes. I'll stay with you, I'll protect you wherever you go, and I'll bring you back to this very ground. I'll stick with you until I've done everything I promised you."
Gill's Notes on the Bible
But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee,.... And so the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea, in this and Job 12:8; from those instructions may be learned, of instances taken, and examples given, which may illustrate and confirm the same things that had been treated of: either what had been just now confuted, that it is always well with good men, and ill with bad men; the reverse of which had been affirmed and proved, that good men are afflicted, and wicked men prosper; something like to which may be seen in the creatures, and learned of them; thus those creatures that are the most harmless and innocent, and most useful and beneficial, are a prey to others, as sheep and lambs to lions, wolves, and bears, while they range about forests, fields, and plains, fearless and unmolested; and doves and turtles to hawks and vultures; and the lesser fish to the greater, by whom they are devoured, see Habakkuk 1:13; and moreover, these creatures which are most useful and profitable, or are for pleasure and delight, fall more to the share of wicked men than good men; when droves of cattle and flocks of sheep are observed, and the question is put, to whom do they belong? the answer for the most part must be given, to such and such wicked men; and if the gold and silver, and other valuable things the earth produces, should be inquired about whose they are, it must be said, that they are, generally speaking, the property of the men of the world, the profane part of it; or if the fowls of the air, and fishes of the sea, could speak, when asked the question, whose food they commonly were? the answer would be, of the carnal, sensual, and voluptuous men: or rather this may refer to what Job first takes notice of in this answer of his, that his friends represented what they said as uncommon things, deep mysteries, and out of the reach of the vulgar, and which did not fall under common observation; whereas Job suggests he was as well acquainted with them as they were, yea, they were such that almost everybody knew; nay, they might be learnt from the creatures, to which Job here sends them for instruction; the beasts, birds, and fishes, all proclaim that they did not make themselves, nor did their fellow creatures, but some first cause, who is God: that they are sustained, supported, and provided for by him, and are governed, directed, and disposed of as he pleases, and so furnishes out documents of his sovereignty, wisdom, power, and providence:
and the fowls of the air, and they will tell thee: the same things; that God made them, and that they are dependent on him, and are fed and cared for by him, see Matthew 6:26.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
But ask now the beasts - Rosenmuller supposes that this appeal to the inferior creation should be regarded as connected with Job 12:3, and that the intermediate verses are parenthetical. Zophar had spoken with considerable parade of the wisdom of God. He had said (Job 11:7 ff) that the knowledge of God was higher than the heavens, and had professed Job 12:6 to have himself exalted views of the Most High. In reply to this, Job says that the views which Zophar had expressed, were the most commonplace imaginable. He need not pretend to be acquainted with the more exalted works of God, or appeal to them as if his knowledge corresponded with them. Even the lower creation - the brutes - the earth - the fishes - could teach him knowledge which he had not now. Even from their nature, properties, and modes of life, higher views might he obtained than Zophar had. Others suppose, that the meaning is, that in the distribution of happiness, God is so far from observing moral relations, that even among the lower animals, the rapacious and the violent are prospered, and the gentle and the innocent are the victims.
Lions, wolves, and panthers are prospered - the lamb, the kid, the gazelle, are the victims. Either of these views may suit the connection, though the latter seems to me to be the more probable interpretation. The object of Job is to show that rewards and punishments are not distributed according to character. This was so plain in his view as scarcely to admit of argument. It was seen all over the world not only among people, but even in the brute creation. Every where the strong prey upon the weak; the fierce upon the tame; the violent upon the timid. Yet God does not come forth to destroy the lion and the hyaena, or to deliver the lamb and the gazelle from their grasp. Like robbers Job 12:6, - lions, panthers, and wolves prowl upon the earth; and the eagle and the vulture from the air pounce upon the defenseless, and the great robbers of the deep prey upon the feeble, and still are prospered. What a striking illustration of the course of events among people, and of the relative condition of the righteous and the wicked. Nothing could be more pertinent to the design of Job than this appeal, and nothing was more in accordance with the whole structure of the argument in the poem, where wisdom is seen mainly to consist in the result of careful observation.
And they shall teach thee - Shall teach thee that God does not treat all according to their character. He does not give security to the gentle, the tame, and the innocent, and punish the ferocious, the blood-thirsty, and the cruel.
And the fowls - They shall give thee information of the point under discussion. Those that prey upon others - as the eagle and the vulture - are not exposed at once to the divine displeasure, and the tender and harmless are not protected. The general principle is illustrated in them, that the dealings of God are not always in exact accordance with character.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Job 12:7. But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee — Mr. Good's paraphrase here is very just: "Why tell ye me that the Almighty hath brought this calamity upon me? Every thing in nature, the beasts of the field, the fowls of the heaven, every inhabitant of earth and sea, and every thing that befalls them, are the work of his hands; and every thing feels and acknowledges him to be the universal Creator and Controller. It is the common doctrine of all nature; but to apply it as ye would apply it to me, and to assert that I am suffering from being guilty of hypocrisy, is equally impertinent. He ordains every thing in wisdom as well as in power; but why events happen as they happen, why good and evil are promiscuously scattered throughout nature or human life, ye are as ignorant of as myself."
